Commitment To Peace

　　Chinese navy conducts anti-piracy escortoperations in the Gulf of Aden and waters offSomaliaThe Gulf of Aden is one of the world’sbusiest sea lanes， with 20 percent ofthe world’s sea trade passing through it.Every year， around 20，000 oil tankers， freightersand merchant vessels pass through this crucialroute between the Indian Ocean and the RedSea.

　　South of it on the Horn of Africa is Somalia，a country that has been plagued by more than20 years of domestic strife. Sustained chaoshas deprived local people of materials for basicliving， which in turn fueled a “piracy industry” forpeople struggling to survive.

　　As a result， passing merchant ships andeven vessels carrying humanitarian reliefitems increasingly fell victim to pirate attacks.Rampant piracy posed threats to both crews’physical safety and trade security.

　　Inresponse， since June 2008， the UNSecurity Council has adopted several resolutionsauthorizing counter-piracy operationsoff the Somali coast. The Transitional FederalGovernment of the Somali Republic also appealedfor international assistance.

　　From January to November of 2008， piratesattacked 20 percent of the 1，200 or so Chineseships passing through this area， and hijackedfive merchant ships between 2007 and 2008.To protect Chinese ships as well as shipsdelivering humanitarian relief items， and withthe full awareness that anyone involved inworld trade has a responsibility to protect vitaltrade routes， in December 2008， the ChineseGovernment， in light of UN resolutions andthe practices of relevant countries， decided todispatch three warships to the Gulf of Aden andwaters off Somalia for an escort mission.

　　Continuous escort

　　OnDecember 26， 2008， the first-ever Chinesenaval escort flotilla， comprising the CNS Wuhan，Haikou and Weishanhu， departed from Sanyain China’s southernmost Hainan Provincetoward the Gulf of Aden about 4，400 nauticalmiles away. It joined a multinational naval forcealready patrolling the area， including vesselsfrom the EU， NATO， the United States， Russiaand India. What the Chinese navy begins to getengaged in is in effect an international peacekeepingoperation.

　　TheChinese Government has dispatched37 warships and some 10，000 naval personnelin 14 groups to the Gulf of Aden and waters offSomalia without interruption during a periodexceeding four years. Chinese naval forces havesuccessfully escorted more than 5，200 vesselsin the area， among which more than 50 percentwere from other countries.

　　TheCNS Harbin， Mianyang and Weishanhuof the 14th Chinese naval escort flotilla set sailfrom Qingdao in Shandong Province in mid-February and reached the Gulf of Aden toundertake patrols in early March. The flotilla hasa combined crew of 730 personnel and hadsuccessfully escorted 156 Chinese and foreignships in 54 convoy groups by late July.

　　Asthe deputy commander of the flotilla’sspecial forces team， Lieutenant Zeng Xiaosonghas participated in a number of onboard securityoperations. He recalled a particularly intensebout of seasickness aboard a 30-meter fishingboat tossed about at night by 3- to 4-meterswells.

　　“We feel satisfied with what we have done，especially when the seamen on the fishingboats enthusiastically told us that the presenceof Chinese naval special forces on their boatsfilled them with a sense of safety，” said Zeng.Like Zeng， everyone onboard the three vesselsis fully aware of the huge responsibility ontheir shoulders. After more than four years ofanti-piracy operations in these waters， relevantexperience is accumulating with each passingday. However， this is never referred to as an excusefor anyone to relax.

　　Special forces training focuses on rescueof hijacked vessels， according to Captain WangQiang， chief of the commanding group of theflotilla. Drills involve fast rope insertion from heli-copter， searching cabin compartments and livefire exercises.

　　Joint efforts

　　Currently there are around 40 warships patrollingwaters of the Gulf of Aden off the coast ofSomalia. They are from more than 20 countriessuch as China， Russia， India and Japan as well asinternational organizations of the EU， the NorthAtlantic Treaty Organization and CombinedMaritime Forces.

　　In the face of the common threat of pirate

　　harassment， the Chinese flotilla is engaged invarious forms of extensive cooperation withother task groups， such as boarding visits bycommanders， operation coordination andinformation sharing as well as joint escorts andtraining operations.

　　Since January 2012， China， India and Japanhave adjusted escort schedules on a quarterlybasis and optimized the available assets of theirindependent deployments， thereby enhancingescort efficiency.

　　Escorting UN World Food Program vesselswas once the job of an EU task force， but sinceearly 2011， Chinese flotillas have escorted fooddeliveringvessels at the request of the EU dueto its escort task group’s shortage of availablewarships.

　　In late July， the Harbin voluntarily offeredto support the escort of UN humanitarian reliefship MV Princess K from the south Red Sea tothe northeast of the Horn of Africa， where itpassed the duties to the ITS Zeffiro of the EUtask force. In his letter of thanks to the Harbin，Commodore Jorge Novo Palma praised this actionas “another achievement to strengthen theexisting close cooperation” between Chineseand EU escort task groups.

　　EUnaval forces set up a website namedMercury to facilitate information sharing amongnaval escort forces. When the first Chinese navalescort flotilla arrived in the Gulf of Aden in early2009， its e-mail address and international maritimesatellite telephone service number wereannounced to escort task groups. SuccessiveChinese flotillas have used the website to shareits schedules and requirements.

　　In a recent escort journey， the Italianmerchant vessel Altinia had to stop for enginerepairs. Unfortunately， the Harbin had to takecare of another four ships that could not bedelayed. The Harbin posted this information onMercury， hoping that warships patrolling nearbywould help guard the Altinia. The EU task forcecontacted the FGS Augburg， patrolling only 40nautical miles away， and a helicopter was overthe Altinia in 30 minutes.

　　The Chinese navy will patrol and conductescort operations in the Gulf of Aden and watersoff Somalia， in joint efforts with other naval forces，as long as necessary to secure the sea lineof communications for its own merchant shipsand meanwhile continue to offer assistanceto foreign merchant vessels and humanitarianshipments， in order to fulfill its internationalobligation as a responsible country in the world，said naval sources.

　　By Pan Xiaoqiao